Because the Catskills and Scribner’s Lodge are both already so stunning, I wanted our design to complement the natural surroundings rather than attempt to upstage it. Scribner’s in-house florist, Andrew, put together a gorgeous spread of florals grown from right on the property’s farm! 

She installed a floral chandelier in the Seven Springs pavilion that can serve as a ceremony statement piece and a frame for the sweetheart table. We strive to spend our clients money wisely by encouraging them to invest in creative pieces but we find ways to repurpose things throughout the event.

We strive to spend our clients’ money wisely by encouraging them to invest in creative pieces, and we find ways to repurpose things throughout the event. We loved how the freestanding floral ceremony pieces framed the couple without being the typical wooden arbor or truss, and they can be moved and repurposed at the reception.

This pride month is especially meaningful, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising which brought visibility to LGBTQ+ issues and the community’s struggle for equal rights. We still face a great deal of discrimination in this world, but no one can dampen the light of love shone from these couples. To honor the sacrifice of every one who has helped the community reach this point, we are highlighting 50 moments of pure queer love and joy from past Catalyst couples. Thank you for sharing your love and light with us and the world!

Carly Romeo, and her team at Carly Romeo & Co., wants us to envision a world where all people looking to get married get honored, celebrated, and respected as individuals, and the bride-centrism that we commonly see in the wedding industry isn’t letting us (and our unions) be great. Here are just a few reasons why.

For this engagement inspiration shoot at Feminist Photo Vaycay in Palm Springs the models were Janet and Gabe. When they sent us images of themselves, their smiles were absolutely infectious and the team knew they’d capture that “in love and on vacation“ attitude. 

Catalyst co-founder Carly Romeo started the Feminist Photo VayCay a few years ago, a retreat where photographers can participate in styled shoots using local vendors and gorgeous couples who are PoC, and/or queer/non-binary. This the first of two styled shoots from the retreat: an elopement inspiration in the high desert at the Tumbleweed Sanctuary. Mia and Sasja are our real-life couple and models, and they were incredibly brave in what was shockingly cold weather.

We posed the question to our vendors: “Should you tell your wedding party what to wear?” The short answer: It’s complicated.

This shoot is one part from a series that a group of wedding professionals in Richmond, Virginia, collaborated to manifest, in which they matched birthstones to florals. Amanda Burnette created the floral designs, ReLove Events & Elements styled the shoot, the artists of Slingin' Pretty designed the hair and makeup, and Catalyst co-founder Carly Romeo and Co. captured the images. The October birthstone, opal, inspired this shoot.

While wedding websites and blogs are a great destination for inspiration, wedding photographers are the original sources for beautiful wedding images, most of which are never published on blogs, in magazines, or on websites. If you are looking for original, nontraditional, and diverse wedding inspiration — or just a daily dose of love — then do yourself a favor and follow these talented artists:

Valdora and Isabel put their love and their desires for the day first. Which meant an early morning intimate wedding ceremony under the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park with only their closest friends in attendance. Later in the afternoon they invited a larger group of friends and family to celebrate a small ceremony, dinner and dancing a few hours north of New York City. It reflected their goals to create a day that invited their loved ones to be a part of their love, all while sticking to their guns in regards to having a small and beautiful wedding where they felt comfortable sharing vows and tears and promises.

Emma Bedor and Catalyst Editor Liz Susong Debate the Concept of the Feminist Wedding

Some couples opt to have a wedding celebration in each of their native countries (my husband and I had one in Munich, Germany where he’s from and a second one several months later in California). If it isn’t feasible to have two weddings, another option is to have one ceremony and include as much of both cultures in it as possible.

However, hosting a wedding for guests who don’t speak the same language runs the risk of many people feeling out of the loop. Here are some ways to keep everyone engaged and make all guests feel included.

Collaborations are one of my favorite things in the world, and maybe it's because I'm a cusp-of-a-millenial but I really value getting together with people in real life and making shit happen. When we decided to do a magazine, it was like creating a product version of that experience — touching, seeing, sharing in a more tangible way than online (no offense, internet). I love meeting wedding professionals from around the country who have the same dedication to equality and representation and helping them work together to make beautiful things.

Pinterest, Facebook, & Blogs. We live a world where visual inspiration abounds. For a first-time bride with very little experience in the wedding planning world, I started my year-and-a-half long engagement thankful for all of the “wedding-inspo” on the Internet. But my gratitude for pretty pictures quickly turned into a much darker force as the pre-wedding months wore on.

You'll hardly ever find the Catalyst team in one place.  I can think of maybe three times when our Editor, Photographer, and Creative Director sat around one table, eating Indian food, and wildly brainstorming on an oversized piece of craft paper.

In just the past few months, Carly, our Photographer, has traveled to Sweden, Italy, Seattle, and New York for weddings, while our Creative Director, Jen, has spent the last three months hunkering down in Hong Kong, and Editor, Liz, has relocated from Washington, DC to Houston, Texas.

This sense of communal engagement is especially important in DIY weddings, with their emphasis on personal connections, small scale production, and cost saving. But can you ask too much of your friends and family on your special day?  Depending on the circumstances, there is a fine line between being a guest and feeling like staff.

Wedding photographers know that there are many different kinds of love, and many different ways to show love. Some couples have a low-lying, steady love that is on the quiet side; some couples have loud, boisterous love that encircles everyone around them. Somehow, Jayleen and Crystal have both and everything in between. There wasn't a moment of their wedding that wasn't steeped in pure joy, from the (few, haha) silences to the end-of-the-night dance-offs. Getting married in the winter isn't for the faint of heart, but Jayleen and Crystal didn't let some chilly rain put a damper on anything. Their ceremony was full of warmth and roses; their dinner was full of laughter; and their reception (where they each danced with all their parents) was endlessly emotional (in a good way). Everything was authentically them, and thus authentically wonderful.